MAN SHOT IN HEAD AT ALCOVA By David Hipschman and Deirdre Stoelzle ; Star Tribune staff writers 5-21-96 CASPER – The Natrona County Sheriff’s office is investigating as a homicide the death Tuesday afternoon of an unidentified man found shot in the head near Alcova lake, 30 miles southwest of Casper. Sheriff Dave Dovala said a passerby used a cellular phone to call authorities after discovering the man, who “was barely alive” in his pickup just past the scenic overlook on Highway 220 near Alcova Lake about 3:30pm. Asked if the death might have been suicide, Davala said “it’s being investigated as a homicide” and added “no gun was found at the scene.” The man’s body was hanging out of the driver’s side of the truck, with the door open. The pickup was parked on the east side of the road, Dovala said. Investigators “have a name” which could be that of the man, who was about 50 years old, Dovala said. That name came from papers found in the truck and on its registration, but no drivers’s license or photo ID that would positively identify the victim was discovered, the sheriff said. The victim was dead when deputies, the Natrona County Fire Protection District, and Life Flight responded, the sheriff said. At the Wyoming Medical Center Tuesday night, x-rays were being taken of the man’s body to aid in the autopsy, which will be conducted today by the county coroner’s office, Dovala said. The sheriff's office impounded the white Ford pickup truck in which the body was found. The truck, which carried Nevada license plates, will be examined today for evidence that might shed light on the incident. Footprints found around the truck were also being evaluated, Dovala said. This is Natrona County’s second homicide investigation this year. HIGHWAY MURDER VICTIM NAMED DESPITE TIPS FROM CITIZENS, STILL NO SUSPECTS IN SHOOTING By Jason Marsden Star-Tribune staff writer 05-24-1996 CASPER – Larry Thomas Jacobs, a 50-year-old construction worker from Fallon, Nev., was the man found fatally shot in the head Tuesday off Highway 220 southeast of here, Natrona County Coroner James Thorpen said Thursday. Jacobs, who’d been working construction for Quality Contractors Inc at the Neil Simpson power plant in Gillette until the job ended Monday was found shot once in the head in his pickup at a scenic overlook above Alcova Reservoir about 330pm Tuesday. Sheriff’s investigators on Thursday still had no suspects in the slaying, and none of the roughly 15 tips that have come in from citizens have panned out, Undersheriff Mark Benton said. A fragmented slug was recovered from Jacobs’ brain, Thorpen said. Neither the coroner nor the undersheriff would specify the caliber of the round, saying only that it could be consistent with either a rifle or a handgun. The Nevadan was last seen alive – and alone – at the Wardwell Mini Mart north of Casper. Investigators aren’t ruling out the possibility Jacobs was slain by a hitchhiker, though Sheriff Dave Dovala believes Jacobs may have been shot while sleeping in his white Ford pickup, and then robbed. Thorpen said an autopsy shows no other wounds or signs of a struggle on Jacobs’ body. He did appear to have a small amount of alcohol in his system, but probably nowhere near enough to impair him, the coroner added. The victim was positively identified by comparing fingerprints taken during an autopsy with a set from authorities in Fallon, Thorpen said. Benton said a Nevada law enforcement agency had Jacobs’ prints because of “some minor offenses he may have been involved in.” Thorpen said the body was to be returned to Jacobs’ family Thursday. Services are planned at the Smith Family Funeral Home in Fallon on May 30. Jacobs’ obituary will appear in Saturday’s Star-Tribune. The Vietnam Air Force Veteran is survived by his mother, his wife, two sons, 22 and 15, and a daughter, 11.